


Going With Your Gut

by queen_scribbles



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Backstory, Gen, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 13:03:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13571133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queen_scribbles/pseuds/queen_scribbles
Summary: For Prompt #24: Enmity. I’ve sort of already done this for Tavi, in Easy, but I wanted to do it again and write some more of her backstory.





	Going With Your Gut

**Author's Note:**

> For Prompt #24: Enmity. I’ve sort of already done this for Tavi, in Easy, but I wanted to do it again and write some more of her backstory.

 

The tavern grew quiet by degrees, and it took Tavi a minute to catch on when it hit the point of being _too_ quiet. This was not the declining patronage oof a slow night, either, but the hasty departure of people who sensed something bad was going to happen.

Given the familiar tickle of foreboding in the back of her mind--one that had saved her life no fewer than fifteen times previously--Tavi was pretty sure she knew what that _something bad_ was. And it wasn’t going to care about collateral damage. They never had before

She sighed and finished her brandy in two large swallows. _I was enjoying that, too,_ she thought sourly. _Chalk up one more against ‘em._ She slapped down the coin to cover her drink and then some--just in case--and left the tavern.

She’d barely made it ten feet before she saw the first of them. A dwarven man in dark brown leathers, doing a very good job blending in, had started following her as soon as her feet met the cobblestones. Tavi scowled and beelined for a side street, not caring if he knew she was on to him. The next time she looked back, he was gone.

 _Shit._ Knowing where he was would make this easier. She could manage, had before, but you couldn’t fight what you couldn’t see. Forced to change her plans, Tavi ducked down a couple more random side streets in quick succession. One good thing about Old Vailia being past its prime; every town had shrunk some, leaving abandoned streets where she wouldn’t have to worry about bystanders when she beat the shit out of this lot like all the others.

 _You sure that’s how it’s gonna go, Tav?_ a little voice in her head asked.

 _Why would this time be any different?_ she retorted.

No sooner had the thought formed then a fireball splashed against the paving stones a few feet ahead of her. Tavi yelped as she dodged away from it. _Fuck. There’s a fucking wizard. Well, that’s just great._

_Told you so._

_Shut up._ She put on an extra burst of speed and felt splintered stone pepper the backs of her legs as a second spell narrowly missed her. Now with a good idea of the spells’ trajectory, Tavi scooped up a rock and risked slowing her pace so she could turn to throw it toward the roof where she thought the wizard was standing.

A gratifying yelped curse floated down and Tavi grinned as she rounded another corner, heading toward the docks. Getting away from populated areas gave her one less thing to worry about, and she’d take any advantage she could get.

Three zigzagged side streets into her new path, Tavi stumbled and almost fell when something slammed into her back. It was quickly followed by two more impacts and the smell of burning fabric and skin. There was no way the wizard had recovered fast enough from her lobbed rock to catch her. _Mother **fuck** , there’s another one._ If she didn’t feel herded before, she definitely did now. But she didn’t know this part of Old Vailia well enough to slip the noose, so she’d just have to play along and fight her way out through two wizards and that dwarf. Wherever the fuck he’d gotten off to.

Tavi rounded a corner and cursed as she was forced to a halt. Dead end. There wasn’t enough debris lying around for her to climb, even if she didn’t expect her pursuers to be waiting on the rooftops.

Even as she assessed her situation, the dwarven man emerged from the shadows, now with clearly visible dagger stowed in his belt. “Good evening.”

“What the fuck do you want, _bazzo_?” Tavi growled. 

“I think you know,” the dwarf smirked. “But I’m open to discussion.”

“Sure, just long enough for your associates to get in position, right?” she shot back, sabres sliding free of their sheaths. “Forgive me if I’m not accommodating of that.”

“Have it your way, then,” he shrugged, twirling his daggers as he drew them.

Tavi didn’t wait for him to be ready before she charged, sabres positioned for slashing blows. Just before she reached him, he stepped to the side and seemed to vanish into the same shadows he’d emerged from a few minutes prior. 

 _A sneaky type and two wizards_ , the little voice piped up. _Maybe you should just run for it._

 _Run where?_ she grumbled back. A tall, willowy man with dark brown hair tied back in a  ponytail and a fresh, _beautiful_ black eye had taken a position in the mouth of the alley. There was no way out. And she still didn’t know where the other wizard was--

\--Pain lanced through her side as the dwarf’s dagger cut deep along the bottom of her ribcage. Tavi yelped and instinctively cranked her elbow back into his skull. It wasn’t a perfect hit, but it _was_ solid enough to make her hand go numb for a second and send the dwarf sprawling. She took advantage of the few seconds he was out of commission to go after the wizard, but the man dodged, and a solid slash aimed at his chest barely nicked his arm. Growling in frustration, Tavi whirled back to the dwarf. He had regained his feet and she turned just in time to parry his blows with a loud ringing clash of blades. With her attention split between the two threats, Tavi only avoided the lance of necrotic energy by pure chance.

Quickly on the heels of that, a portion of the ground seemed to slicken just before she stepped on it, and Tavi went down with _Fuck, fuck, fuck_ circling in her mind. She was slightly dazed as she rolled to avoid the dwarf’s follow-up strikes, but she still noticed the female orlan standing with her fellow wizard to block the alley’s mouth.

 _Shit, shit, shitshitshit_. Tavi kicked the dwarf in the jaw as she rolled again and scrambled to her feet. The little voice had been fucking _right_ and she hated it. She’d faced these odds and won before, but this trio seemed to work together almost supernaturally well. As she stood with her back against the wall--both literally and figuratively--faced off with three assassins out for her blood, Tavi was forced to admit she had two options: run or die. Much as she hated running, dying was worse, and every other plan that crossed her mind ended badly. She couldn’t do this, not alone.

She spun one sabre around her hand and glared at her attackers. _Doesn’t mean I won’t try._ Screaming in wordless fury, she charged.

The wizards were both too far into chanting invocations to do anything, but the dwarf deftly sidestepped and one of his daggers sliced into her arm, catching forearm and bicep both thanks to her stance.

_Tavi, **run.**_

The thought was punctuated by the sting of the other dagger catching her just below the knee.

_Run before you can’t anymore._

This time she listened. Even limping heavily, Tavi managed to gain enough momentum she could barrel past the wizards as they unleashed their spells, elbowing the orlan in the head as she passed. Completely by accident, she tripped the human, who went sprawling into the dwarf. Coincidence that it may have been, that probably saved her life; giving her a few precious seconds’ worth of distance while they untangled themselves.

Hissing softly at each painful step, Tavi hobbled into the maze of alleyways. Hopefully between the fading light and various liquid stains on the streets, they wouldn’t be able to pick up her trail _too_ easily. She cut through buildings, doubled back, and every other trick she could think of to lose them. Including a brief but risky stop to cut off her undamaged sleeve for use as a makeshift bandage on the opposite arm, since those wounds were bleeding the heaviest.

Finally, once night way fully fallen and there was an abundance of shadows to hide in, she started making her way back to the more populated areas. Hopefully she could find somewhere to patch herself up. She’d had trouble trusting healers since attempt on her life number four. She’ never come out of one of these fights so badly, though. Never lost. It was further souring an already-bad mood.

 _Told you not to be so cocksure,_ her thoughts taunted.

 _They’ve never sent a wizard before, let alone two,_ Tavi groused back, briefly worrying about her sanity as she tried the door of the healer’s shop. Locked, of course. It _was_ late. She thought about breaking in but decided against it. _That kinda tipped the scales in their favor. If **I** had a wizard it’d be different._

Her injured leg almost gave out as she turned away from the healer’s. Tavi bit her lip and braced one hand against the wall. She _would_ get this fucked up in some backwater where it made sense for the healer to _close_ at night. And with her hunters still out there, she didn’t want to make a scene. Especially in one of the places they’d be likely to check.

 _The Adventurers’ Hall_. It was the first _helpful_ contribution the little voice had made since the start of this debacle. Muttering to herself, Tavi kicked dirt over the blood drips that marked where she’d stood and hobble down the street. As the staging ground for all--or at least _most_ \--of the mercenary companies and adventurers in the area, the Hall would have plenty of rooms for members who had paid their dues. Surely at least a few were empty and she could borrow one for an hour or so with no one the wiser. Assuming she still had enough supplies left. Her pack was getting light, and not just because she was low on food. _Please, it’s an adventurers’ hall, I’m sure they have bandages and shit if you come up short._

With that settled, Tavi made her way--slowly due to both caution and pain--to the Adventurers’ Hall, where she slipped in a side door. It was late enough the hallways were mostly deserted, though she could hear the low chatter of conversation from the common rooms, and a couple of the suites still had light showing under the doors. The three closest to her were dark, so Tavi picked one and eased the door open. The biggest aumaua she’d seen in her life was snoring contentedly in the bed, so she eased the door closed without waking him and tried another. This one was empty, so she hobbled in and closed the door. Enough light made it in from the hallway for her to see where the washroom was and Tavi felt her heart sing a little as she headed in that direction. The adrenaline had worn off by now and everything _hurt_.

There was a low stool under the table holding the washbasin, and she pulled it out to sit on as she absently kicked the door toward closed. Her leg finally gave out then, so it wound up being more collapsing on the stool than sitting. Tavi hissed out a quiet curse as she untied the makeshift bandage and pulled off her shirt. It stuck a little to the cut along her ribs, and she bit her lip as she worked it free. She used the tattered remnants to clean off the  wounds as best she could before pulling out the supplies to stitch herself up.

“Now for the fun part,” she muttered, clumsily threading the needle in the little bit of light making it in from outside. Half moonlight, half torchlight, it had just enough of a flicker to make things difficult. Her shaking hands didn’t make things easier, either. When she finally got it threaded, she held the needle somewhat awkwardly in her left hand. This was going to be the exact opposite of _fun_ , but she had to sew up her arm first. Her right hand was her dominant one, so she needed that as functional as possible for stitching up the other injuries.

It was a slow process, one interrupted by the wounds beginning to bleed again, but Tavi did finally get the two gashes stitched up. It was even a half decent job, she allowed as she unclenched her jaw and started wrapping bandages around her arm. She gave herself a minute or two for the pain to fade some, then rethreaded the needle and swapped hands to start working on her leg. That cut was smaller, and shallow, much easier to stitch up than her arm. 

She’d barely started bandaging it when the door to the main room opened.

 _ **Shit.**_ Tavi froze, hearing the caught breath and cautious steps of someone who had definitely seen the blood trail leading to the washroom. _Shitshitfucking **shit.**_

She’d only half-closed the door to the washroom, so it made a markedly less impressive bang when it slammed open, revealing a blonde dwarf holding a candle in one hand and a loaded crossbow in the other. Her grip on both tightened as she met Tavi’s eyes and demanded, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Composing an ode to the financial savvy of the ducs bel,” Tavi shot back irritably. “What the fuck does it _look like_ I’m doing?!”

The dwarf snickered and lower her crossbow. “Oh, I like you. Lemme rephrase: _why_ the fuck are you stitchin’ yourself up in my room?”

“Thought it was empty,” Tavi replied warily.

“That’s fair.” The dwarf set down crossbow and candle both and crossed her arms as she looked Tavi over, taking in the bandaged wounds, bloody smears, and gash across her ribs. She didn’t seem especially perturbed at finding a bleeding elf clad in breastband and trousers sitting in her washroom, just curious. “What happened?”

Tavi shrugged, which her side quickly reminded her was stupid. “There’s people who wanna kill me for reasons I ain’t figured out. They came pretty close this time.”

“I can see that. What, you don’t trust healers?”

“No,” she said simply, the memory of attempt four flashing through her mind. “I don’t.”

“So you go it on your own, patching yourself up as needed?” the dwarf flashed her an impressed smile. “Good for you. Sounds lonely.”

“It can be,” Tavi admitted, wishing this conversation would end so she could sew up her fucking side. “But I do travel with people sometimes. When I feel like I can trust ‘em.”

“Would you trust me?” the dwarf asked, nodding at Tavi’s side. “Least enough to let me help with that?”

 _Yes,_ said Tavi’s gut. She’d never had reason to doubt it, but this close after a scrap with Those People, she was still wary. “Would help if I knew your name.”

The dwarf nodded and smiled. “Maren. And you?”

“Tavi.”

“Nice to meet you, Tavi.” Maren raked her hair back into a ponytail. “D’you want me to help stitch you up?”

Tavi only hesitated for a few seconds. The cut across her ribs would be tricky to take care of y herself, which meant a higher chance for complications. “Sure. Will you be offended if I keep one hand on a weapon?”

“Nah, that’s just common fucking sense,” Maren chuckled, rolling up her sleeves. She washed her hands quickly and accepted the needle and thread when Tavi offered them. “So, these people you’ve occasionally trusted, any of them adventurers?”

Tavi shook her head, fingers curling around her sabre’s hilt. “Couple caravans, few families, a traveling tinkerer once, but never adventurers. Why?” She sucked in a sharp breath as Maren started stitching her side back together.

“B’cause you seem like the type who’d fit in well with an adventuring company,” Maren said with a meaningful look at the older scars peppered over Tavi’s body. “Fuckin’ tough and capable of takin’ care of herself.” She glanced up. “And I happen to head up an adventuring company lookin’ for exactly that. Got a couple opening I need to fill for us to be full strength.”

“Why’re there openings?” Tavi asked, wincing slightly as the stitching progressed. “Did they die? Leave?”

“One of each, but the dead one it’s her own stupid fuckin’ fault,” Maren shrugged. “Wanna join up?”

"What do I get if I do?” Tavi asked cautiously. Her gut was prompting her towards accepting, but she wanted details first.

“Adventure, obviously, an even share of any coin we make, and a whole company willin’ to watch your back as long as you watch theirs, too,” Maren reeled off, nearing the end of the gash.

“Fuckin’ tempting,” Tavi acknowledged. “And what do you get out of it?”

“Godsdamned tough bitch workin’ for me,” Maren grinned up at her. “And the faster I replace my lost people the better we look to prospective employers.”

Tavi grinned back and listened to her gut. “Sounds good, I’m in.”

“Well, then, Tavi,” Maren paused to tie off and cut the last stitch before extending her hand to shake. “Welcome to Silversteel.”


End file.
